The U.S. Courthouse in Washington is the home of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approved the NSA's monitoring of the phone and Internet traffic of millions of Americans.

Written by

state Rep. Mike Stewart

Let's return national security issues to real federal courts, which are well equipped to evaluate government intelligence efforts while safeguarding the rights of all Americans.

Thanks to the recent controversy surrounding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's apparently routine approval of the National Security Agency's monitoring of the phone and Internet traffic of millions of American citizens, the shortcomings of that body are now well known.

A rubber stamp of the first order, this "court" has apparently ruled in favor of government surveillance in over 99.9 percent ...